So taxing: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as the second workweek of April rolls on – and one of America’s most nerve-wracking deadlines draws near.
Yes, paperwork procrastinators, it’s T-minus six days until the dreaded tax return-filing deadline. No need to panic just yet – but you better get cracking, because it only gets more stressful from here!
Stiff upper lip: It takes real spine to stand up to fascism, as Winston Churchill knew.
But are you Chicken Little enough? Six days to April 15 makes today April 9, and speaking of tense times, it seems headlines these days are forever screaming about the end of the world as we know it – an appropriate backdrop for National Chicken Little Awareness Day, which cautions against overreacting and urges critical thinking. (Of course, with international protests mounting, federal health departments in shambles, national defense data bouncing along unsecure channels and economic markets teetering around the globe, it’s possible the sky actually is falling.)
“Never, never give up”: On the other end of the fortitude scale, we find the British Bulldog himself, who was born in November and died in January – but this is the date we celebrate National Winston Churchill Day, marking the day in 1963 when Sir Winston was named an honorary U.S. citizen by President John F. Kennedy and the United States Congress.
No stranger to “tipples,” Churchill famously favored Johnnie Walker whiskey, Hine cognac, Ararat brandy and Pol Roger champagne. We’ll drink to that – but make it a Tanqueray and tonic, since April 9 is also National Gin and Tonic Day.
In the books: If it aligns with your political persuasion, perhaps you’ll raise a glass to naturalized U.S. citizen Elon Musk’s efforts to defund U.S. libraries – if not, you can toast the first public library supported by taxes, which opened on this date in 1833 in New Hampshire.
Race disgrace: It takes real cowardice to enforce institutional racism, as Andrew Johnson knew.
On the books: Speaking of misguided federal officials, President Andrew Johnson stubbornly vetoed America’s first civil rights law – but it was 159 years ago today when the House of Representatives overrode that veto, finally passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
In the scorebooks: April 9 is a big date in baseball, as it witnessed the first games at Boston’s Fenway Park (a 1912 exhibition between the Red Sox and the men of Harvard University), the famous Houston Astrodome (a 1965 exhibition between the hometown Astros and the visiting New York Yankees) and Anaheim Stadium, home of the then-California, now-Los Angeles Angels (a 1966 exhibition against the San Francisco Giants). For those keeping score, Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field also hosted its first regular-season tilt on this date in 1913, after officially opening with an April 5 exhibition.
Textbook innovation: Intravenous injections had been around for centuries already, but African American inventor Phil Brooks patented the disposable syringe on April 9, 1974.
One for the books: And it was one year ago today when the European Court of Human Rights issued a historic ruling in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland, a first-ever class-action lawsuit targeting the inadequacy of climate action by a nation state.
The landmark decision found that inadequate response to climate change by a federal government violates the right to private life, family life and access to the courts, among other entitlements enshrined by the European Convention on Human Rights.
Hugh are we to judge?: Aesthetics aside, Hefner (center, flanked by Bunnies) was an unrivaled influencer and true First Amendment icon.
Naked truth: American magazine publisher and entrepreneur Hugh Marston Hefner (1926-2017) – the decadent, silk-pajama-wearing U.S. Army veteran and journalist who founded Playboy magazine, adding a hedonistic philosophy to America’s sexual revolution – would be 99 years old today.
Also born on April 9 were English civil and mechanical engineer Isambard Brunel (1806-1859), the face of the Industrial Revolution in England; American professional football player and coach Earl Louis “Curly” Lambeau (1898-1965), the Hall-of-Fame-level innovator who founded the Green Bay Packers; American pilot, engineer and businessman James McDonnell Jr. (1899-1980), the aviation pioneer who founded the McDonnell Aircraft Corp. (later McDonnell Douglas, now Boeing); American biologist and researcher Gregory Pincus (1903-1967), the endocrinologist whose research into steroids’ antifertility effects led directly to oral contraception; and American electrical engineer J. Presper Eckert Jr. (1919-1995), who co-invented the first general-purpose digital computer.
Child’s play: And take a bow, Keshia Knight Pulliam! The American actress, producer, director, writer and talk-show host – who captured America’s heart (and earned an Emmy nomination, at that time the youngest performer ever nominated) as precocious Rudy on 1980s sitcom “The Cosby Show” – turns 46 today.
Give the littlest Huxtable your best at editor@innovateli.com, where our show is based largely on your news tips – and all the talk is about your calendar events.
About our sponsor: SUNY Old Westbury empowers students to own the future they want for themselves. In a small-college atmosphere and as part of a dynamic, diverse student body that today is 5,000 strong, Old Westbury students get up close and personal with the life and career they want to pursue. Whether it’s a cutting-edge graduate program in data analytics, highly respected programs in accounting and computer information sciences, or any of the more than 70 degrees available, a SUNY Old Westbury education will set students on a course towards success. Own your future.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Jamming with Jack: Licitra is a celebrated performer and renowned musical instructor.
Strike up the band camp: A top Long Island cultural center is planning its first All-Star Band Camp for high-schoolers.
The Stony Brook-based Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame has scheduled a week-long program (July 28 to Aug. 1) for students in grades nine through 12, to be coached by the staff of Sayville-based youth music mecca South Bay Arts. The intensive and immersive program is slated to be conducted throughout the LIMEHOF museum, giving participants – vocalists, drummers, guitarists, bass players, and keyboardists from across Nassau, Suffolk, Queens and Brooklyn – up-close-and-personal exposure to the works of Billy Joel, Mariah Carey, Blue Öyster Cult and dozens of other Hall of Fame inductees.
The one-of-a-kind experience is scheduled to culminate with a special concert performance on Aug. 3, featuring program participants jamming with South Bay Arts founder and LIMEHOF Long Island Sound Award Winner Jack Licitra. “LIMEHOF is inspiring the next generation of LI musicians,” Licitra noted. “This a great step toward cultivating that talent to create a thriving music scene.”
One person’s trash…: An ambitious Northwell Health program aims to keep tons of operating-room waste materials out of regional landfills.
Northwell’s Center for Advanced Medicine, located inside the Lake Success-based Long Island Jewish Medical Center, is pioneering an innovative program that will recycle up to 50 percent of clean OR waste – completely reusable materials that would otherwise be shipped off to already-overflowing garbage dumps – through a comprehensive collaboration with Michigan-based Caracal Products & Services and Texas-based WM Stericycle. The groundbreaking effort diverts appropriate materials into color-coded sterile packaging, to be eventually recycled into a resin that can be repurposed into plastic bags, surgical gowns and other useful products.
The pilot program, which kicked off April 1, is “just the first step,” according to Northwell Health Senior Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer Phyllis McCready, with Northwell hoping to recycle 25 percent of all appropriate materials from 250 system-wide ORs by later this year. “We are committed to significantly expanding our recycling efforts … as we strive toward our ultimate goal of net-zero emissions by 2050,” McCready added.
TOP OF THE SITE
On the count of three: Thirteen Northwell Health surgeons, two specialized nursing teams and one very grateful patient are celebrating Long Island’s first triple organ-transplantation surgery.
Learning curve: New episodes of “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast” are in the works – but with 50-plus educational and entertaining conversations already in the can (and so many worth a second listen), are you sure you’ve gleaned every lesson out there? There’s lots to learn!
VOICES
One more big round of applause, please, for the latest slugger to join our heavy-hitting Voices lineup: Intelligent Product Solutions Vice President of Technology and Business Development Brad Carlson, our new technology editor, who steps up to the plate with a bases-juiced breakdown of effective product development.
Something to say? Welcome to The Entrepreneur’s Edge, Innovate Long Island’s new promoted-content news feature platform – a direct link from you to our innovation-focused audience. Progressive product to promote? Singular service to sell? Sociopolitical position to push? Shine a bright light on the big picture, the little details and everything in between with The Entrepreneur’s Edge. Living on the edge.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Hot seat: Re-imagining the high-tech cockpit of future combat aircraft. Airbus takes flight.
Hot Wheels: Ferrari and Mattel reunite for their first toy collaboration in 10 years. Car and Driver rolls out.
Hot stuff: What really happens to your body when you eat super-spicy foods? Salon challenges tolerances.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ heyLibby, a Washington State-based artificial intelligence-powered wellness startup focused on fitness and recreation, raised $4.5 million in Seed funding led by Aglaé Ventures and Vertical Venture Partners.
+ Zero Industrial, a South Carolina-based thermal energy storage innovator, raised $10 million in funding led by Evok Innovations.
+ Caris Life Sciences, a Texas-based biotech focused on precision oncology, raised $168 million in growth funding led by Braidwell LP.
+ RayThera, a California-based biotech focused on small-molecule immunology, raised $110 million in Series A funding led by Foresite Capital and OrbiMed Advisors.
+ Daymark Health, a Pennsylvania-based cancer-care innovator, raised $11.5 million in Seed funding co-led by Maverick Ventures and Yosemite.
+ IceMOS Technology, an Arizona-based semiconductor manufacturer, raised $22 million in Series E funding led by 57 Stars LLC.
Like this newsletter? Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know (just ask SUNY Old Westbury). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Rebirth Edition)
Cry wolf: Meet Remus, the first dire wolf to walk the Earth in 10,000 years.
Second life: Used EV batteries are difficult to recycle – but demand for their rare metals is driving innovative solutions.
Dire circumstances: Science has brought back the long-dead dire wolf – but is de-extinction really a good idea?
Come again: The 89-year-old Dalai Lama makes a bold prediction about his reincarnated successor.
Born to run: Please continue supporting the innovative institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including SUNY Old Westbury, where graduates hit the ground running thanks to state-of-the-art academics and personalized social experiences. Check them out.
